Chapter 58: Oracle

Inside the quarter of the leader, Davos, were no more than 40 people, and so he asked the leader of the guards, Martius, to lead 30 members (the number of the guard has also increased), to make a space in front of the quarter to prevent strangers from coming in to spy, and to light the torches around…

Davos’ gaze swept over everyone’s face:

Captain of the first hoplite unit – the prudent and magnanimous, Kapus

Captain of the second hoplite unit – the one good at understanding people and seizing the opportunity in combat, Antonios

Captain of the third hoplite unit – the brave, Amintas

Captain of the fourth hoplite unit – the one good at thinking and planning, Alexius

Captain of the fifth hoplite unit – his most trusted subordinate, Hielos

Captain of the first peltast unit – the one with strong tactical skill, Epiphanes

Captain of the second peltast unit – the one worshipping Davos for his devotion to god, Cid

As well as the logistic officer – Mersis, medical officer – Herpus, the herald – Asistes, and the cavalry captain – Ledes (although his horses are few, Davos still retains them, after all, they have a lot of experience in cavalry combat). There are also 28 squad leader, all of whom are experience and talented officers. Plus the 1,400 veterans who have been through a long expedition for more than a year. This is his whole troops in this world!

Tonight, he must persuade them that they must continue to follow him, after a long year’s expedition, to another country a thousand miles away. He isn’t confident about this when he thought about it. He coughed lightly and said, “Brothers, the farce you played in Byzantium today is good! Cleander immediately expressed sympathy for our situation and is willing to provide us with some food. This is all your credit!”

Everyone laughed.

Olivos then loudly said, “Leader, this is not a farce, but a comedy. You should’ve seen those Byzantines fainting due to fear!”

There was another burst of laughter, only Matonis have a guilty conscience and so he had to lower his head to snigger.

“Yeah, comedy.” Davos sighed and said, “However, how long can this comedy last? We are trapped here and we can’t go anywhere, and we also dare not leave. According to a reliable information, Sparta is ready to fight with Persia. The strategos, Thimbron of Sparta, has arrived at Ephesus to recruit soldiers. How could he let go of us veterans, who have a rich experience in fighting against Persia! It won’t be long till we once more fight in the Persian land!”

“Is this real? I’m tired of fighting the Persians, and I don’t want to go back!”

“How could this happen! I’m already ready to buy a piece of land in Crete and find a wife…”

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

The crowd immediately became agitated, and there was a great deal of uneasiness in the discussion…

Davos didn’t answer them, but he instead told another amazing information, “What’s more, Cleander is about to step down, and will be replace by Aristarchus of Sparta!”

Someone leaked an “ah” cry.

Davos glanced in that direction and coldly said, “Some of you may know him, and some of you don’t. I will inform you that this Spartan was very famous in the previous war with Athens! Not because he fought bravely, but-” Davos with an imposing expression said as he heavily emphasized, “He sold the Greeks, who have been defeated, into slavery twice!!”

This is like pouring a pot of cold water into a pot of boiling oil, and immediately burst the pot.

“Is he going to sell us?!”

“I’ll fight him if he dares to do so!”

“We are free people, and not the enemy of Sparta! There is no reason for him to do so, and this is against the Greek tradition!”

“Sparta was already unreasonable and overbearing, but now as the hegemon of Greece, they can do something that isn’t far from a final say!”

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Davos watched the panic crowd, and said with a voice full of emotions, “We Greeks are free. We live through hardship in order to live. However, in the eyes of the Spartans and the citizens of those city-states, we are landless pariah, thieves and robbers that threatens the stability of the city-states! Therefore, Anaxibius can deceive us(referring to how the Spartan admiral deceived them in order for them to go to Byzantium by saying he will pay them and then broke his words as soon as they arrived)! Cleander has also deceived us, deceived us out of the city and closed the city gates, and we not only have no food, but also face a large number of Thracians! Sparta is so strong, do we dare to resist?! We will either be sold into slavery that we will be starved and be ill dressed, until one day we die due to exhaustion on the farms and mines, and then be dumped into the wilderness. Or go to fight together with Sparta and our body will be covered with wounds every day until we die in some unknown wilderness. Of course, we may be lucky to return home safely, but what about it?! As a freeperson without land, we are strangers in any city-states, and we aren’t entitled to the rights of any city-states, and be cast aside until we die without anyone knowing us…”

Everyone listened quietly, so quiet that they could hear someone sobbing…

At this time, Davos is also full of tears, “Is this the result we want after a year of fighting bloodily in Persia and struggling to return home! Do you not even want the right to have a peaceful and happy life!! Surely it doesn’t mean that there is no place for us poor freepeople to live in peace!!!”

Davos’ heartful howl and questioning awakened all the officers inside the quarter. They clenched their fist and their teeth, and their gaze filled with anger and agony…

Hielos stood up shaking and reaching out his hands and said, “Leader Davos! Our commander! Favored of Hades! Please tell us on what we need to do?! What we need to do in order to get rid of our predicament!!”

“Yes, leader Daves leader, we need your oracle!!” The words of Hielos had reminded many people, and Kapus and Antonios excitedly plead Davos.

When the gaze of everyone were on the face of Davos, his expresion became extremely solemn, “Last night…a man came into my dream. The golden light on his body made me not see his face clearly…he pulled me out of the bed, through the window, all the way to the air…I look down in fear, and in front of me is the Mediterranean Sea, which is clearly just like the one in the painting…the Peloponnesian peninsula is like a hammer deep into the sea, and in the west next to it is Italy which is like a leather boot…and further west, I saw the pillars of Heracles as a gatekeeper separating the Mediterranean from the ocean…the Mediterranean coast of Egypt is like a long green carpet stretching all the way to Africa…”

Davos’ dreamlike narration attracted everyone, and they found that the Mediterranean sea is indeed looked like this when they compared their geographical cognition, which made them believe what Davos said.

“At that time, the person that radiates a golden light said something to me.”

“What did he say?” Everyone asked.

“He said, ‘Davos, you and your soldiers have a mission in the west of Mediterranean!’, after that, he pushed me down from the air, and I then woke up.” Said Davos with a lingering fear, and still in a dreamlike trance.

“West of Mediterranean? Where is that?”

“Sicily?”

“It could be Italy.”

“Iberia is also a possibility.”

“Why not Nubia.” (T/N: should be Numidia since Nubia is in south, while Numidia is in the west…but 努比亚 is Nubia)

“Who is that man that is radiating golden light? Hades?”

“How could Hades radiate golden light? It should be Athena!”

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

During everyone’s speculation, Davos sighed. Since he became the leader, he deliberately avoided his status as the “God’s Favored” and won the trust of his subordinates through his own ability. But it’s a big deal this time, and he had to resort to the Greek gods once more, and he purposely made a vague oracle.

Since the oracles are ambiguous. For example, there used to be a kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor, and it wanted to fight with Persia, so they went to Delphi and spent a lot of money to get the oracle of Apollo. And the oracle said that a great power will perish. And so the Lydians happily went back to war, but the result was the demise of the kingdom of Lydia. The explanation of the priest of Apollo is that the kingdom of Lydia was also a great power in Asia Minor.